After reading this piece, which originally ran in The Nation, I bumped Norma Rae up on my Netflix queue and was very glad I did. I was really too young for it when it came out in 1979, and had somehow never gotten around to renting it in the years since. And seeing Norma Rae […]
Entries Tagged as 'Activism'
Liking Norma Rae
July 10th, 2007 · Comments Off on Liking Norma Rae · Activism, Culture, Film, History, Labor, Media, News, Peoria, Politics, The Economy, Stupid
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Roundup: Cannibal Cane Toad Edition
July 9th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Cannibal Cane Toad Edition · Activism, Blogs, Comics, Culture, Education, Food, Hate Crimes, Health, Human Rights, Internet, iTunes, LGBT, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Organic Food, Pets, Politics, Restaurants, Roundup, Science, Tech, Vegetarian & Vegan
John Conyers tells it like it T-I-Is: Conyers says Bush spared Libby from jail to keep him from singing. This is patently obvious to just about everyone, but of course the White House immediately called the charge “ridiculous and baseless.” Which allows it to join the distinguished list of other ideas the administration considers “ridiculous […]
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Notes on Sicko: A Prescription for Change
July 6th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Activism, Culture, Film, Health, Healthcare Crisis, History, Journalism, Media, News, Politics, Science
I saw Sicko Tuesday night, and it did not disappoint. The main impact for me is this: Watching this film makes it unavoidably clear that we as a nation have been completely duped, conned, and as the kids say, “pwned,” by those who’ve spent millions to convince us that universal healthcare is too expensive, can’t […]
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Sicko Mini-Roundup: “We Can Do It.”
June 30th, 2007 · 5 Comments · Activism, Culture, Education, Health, Healthcare Crisis, Human Rights, Media, Politics, TV, Video
In case you haven’t seen it yet, Crooks and Liars has the video of Michael Moore’s appearance on Leno from earlier this week, with some great interview and a clip from the film. Meanwhile, Daily Kos had a diary a few days ago about the more than 15,000 nurses from across the country who have […]
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Save Internet Radio Campaign Update — Day of Silence Tuesday, June 26
June 25th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Activism, Business, Culture, Internet, iTunes, Media, News, Politics, Tech
July 15 is “the day the music dies” — the date that Internet radio will be essentially destroyed by new draconic royalty fees approved by the Copyright Royalties Board if Congress doesn’t take action to fix the situation. The exorbitant new rates force stations to pay a fixed fee for every song they play, regardless […]
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Michael Moore’s Sicko: Willing To Be Patient
June 20th, 2007 · Comments Off on Michael Moore’s Sicko: Willing To Be Patient · Activism, Culture, Film, Health, Healthcare Crisis, Internet, Media, News, Politics
So there’s lots of news buzz this week about how Michael Moore’s health care industry documentary Sicko has already been pirated to YouTube and other places, two weeks before the film’s original June 29 release date. And as a result the movie will be opening early, with sneak previews in 27 selected markets. I think […]
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Roundup: Tiny Four-Eyed Turtle Edition
June 18th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Tiny Four-Eyed Turtle Edition · Activism, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Education, Health, Human Rights, Internet, iTunes, Labor, Law, LGBT, Music, Nature, News, Pets, Politics, Science, Tech
POLITICS: In “Hillary’s Labor Problem,” Joe Conason points out that Hillary Clinton’s top political strategist, Mark Penn, is the CEO of a union-busting law firm. “Having started in a tiny, two-man polling operation in a New York City mayoral campaign, he is now the CEO of Burson-Marsteller Inc., one of the planet’s largest P.R. shops, […]
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Roundup: Return of the Mouse Edition
June 15th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Activism, Apple, Books, Comics, Culture, Fiction, Food, Hate Crimes, Health, Healthcare Crisis, HIV/AIDS, iTunes, LGBT, Lit, Macintosh, Music, News, Organic Food, Politics, Roundup, Tech, Theater
BOOKS: This week marked the release of Armistead Maupin’s new book Michael Tolliver Lives, which picks up the story of Michael “Mouse” Tolliver, the iconic character from Maupin’s Tales of the City series. Mouse is now in his mid-50s, living with HIV but happily married. Maupin says, “I wanted to tell the story of a […]
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Moscow Is Burning: Russian Homophobes Attack Gay Pride Demonstrators
May 28th, 2007 · Comments Off on Moscow Is Burning: Russian Homophobes Attack Gay Pride Demonstrators · Activism, Chicago, Culture, Hate Crimes, Human Rights, LGBT, News, Politics
Yesterday Russian homophobes made good on their threat to physically attack gay pride demonstrators in Moscow this year, as they did last year. The haters, who included contingents of nationalists and Russian Orthodox extremists, punched and kicked gay participants, and some wore surgeon’s masks, which they claimed was an attempt to protect them from the […]
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NYC Ferrets Against Giuliani
May 17th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Activism, Culture, LGBT, Nature, News, Pets, Politics, Video
Some ferrets talk smack about Rudy G: There was a time when I used to buy the line that ferrets don’t make good pets, before I’d ever gotten to know any. But in recent years my sister has had a couple of ferrets and they’ve been wonderful companion animals — friendly, happy, gentle, and […]
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Music: Amnesty International’s Instant Karma — The Campaign to Save Darfur
May 9th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Activism, Culture, Human Rights, iTunes, Music, New Wave, News
Green Day’s cover version of “Working Class Hero” by John Lennon was released May 1 as the third single from Instant Karma: the Campaign to Save Darfur, Amnesty International’s album of Lennon covers by various artists to raise awareness about the human rights catastrophe in the Sudan. All proceeds from the album will go to […]
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Roundup: Sunday Potluck Edition
May 6th, 2007 · 9 Comments · Activism, Blogs, Comics, Culture, Education, Film, Foreign Policy, Hate Crimes, Health, LGBT, Lit, Music, News, Peace, Pet Food, Pets, Poetry, Politics, Tea
Sunday was always potluck day where I grew up, so I hereby present to you this glorious covered casserole of links I didn’t get around to posting this week. With a few fresh ones stirred in, just to keep you guessing. Retired general compares Bush to a deserter: “By vetoing this bill and failing to […]
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“Very Bad HIV Legislation in Illinois”
May 6th, 2007 · Comments Off on “Very Bad HIV Legislation in Illinois” · Activism, Chicago, Health, HIV/AIDS, LGBT, Music, Politics
I got an email this week from my friend Justin Hayford, who works at the AIDS Legal Council of Chicago when he’s not moonlighting as a cabaret crooner. Justin had a lot to say about a couple of pending bills in the Illinois House of Representatives. I could spend a bunch of time trying to […]
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